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    Rocchetta Tunnel excavation: design and delivery notes for rail engineers

    May 7, 2026|

    Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

    Rocchetta Tunnel excavation: design and delivery notes for rail engineers

    First reported on New Civil Engineer

    30 Second Briefing

    Excavation of the 6.5km Rocchetta Tunnel on the Naples–Bari high speed/high capacity railway has been completed by Italian contractor Webuild, marking a key milestone on the Apice–Hirpinia section. The twin-track tunnel forms part of RFI’s upgrade of the corridor for higher-speed, higher-capacity passenger and freight operations between southern Italy’s major cities. Completion of the primary excavation allows designers and contractors to move to lining, track slab, systems installation and integration with adjacent surface works.

    Technical Brief

    • Excavation of the 6.5km Rocchetta Tunnel has been executed by Italian contractor Webuild for RFI.
    • Works sit on the Apice–Hirpinia section of the Naples–Bari high speed/high capacity corridor.

    Our Take

    Webuild’s role on the Rocchetta Tunnel adds to a growing portfolio of complex underground works in our database, including its multi-TBM drives on the Brenner Base Tunnel and Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop, signalling that Italian contractors are exporting high-speed rail tunnelling expertise developed domestically on schemes like Naples–Bari.

    RFI and FS Italiane Group’s investment in the Apice–Hirpinia section fits a pattern in our infrastructure coverage where European rail owners are prioritising high-capacity links on existing corridors rather than entirely new greenfield routes, which typically shortens permitting timelines but concentrates geotechnical risk in constrained alignments.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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